Natalia Gonzalez Martin
IF THE TEARS ARE ONLY A REFLECTION..., 2021
Oil on wood with oak frame
29.7 x 42 cm
11 3/4 x 16 1/2 in
11 3/4 x 16 1/2 in
Copyright The Artist
A strict catholic environment turns everything into a ritual. Looking at the traditions, gestures and habits we have inherited it’s hard to ignore the inscription of religious and cultural heritage...
A strict catholic environment turns everything into a ritual. Looking at the traditions, gestures and habits we have inherited it’s hard to ignore the inscription of religious and cultural heritage on one’s physical body and moral codes.
Natalia's work takes the form of icon paintings. Through these, the artist explores the traces we have been left with from traditions that have prevailed over mainland Europe for centuries and their capacity to continue to exist through time, but also to endure—Old French root, endurer—“to undergo or to suffer”, to carry on despite obstacles or hardship.
Natalia’s work merges the characters from old fables with the constant supply of images we are subjected to daily aiming to blur the boundaries between divine, secular and earth in order to gesture toward other ways of desiring, feeling, or being in the world, attuned to these paradoxes. The pieces are entitled by proverbs or sayings passed down orally, reflecting on a shared approach to life that has been accepted without comment or revision.
Born in Spain, Natalia graduated from Fine Art Painting at City & Guilds of London Art School in 2017. Since then her work has been exhibited in several group exhibitions including Old Friends, New Friends, Collective Ending, London (2021), The Artist Oracle, White Crypt Gallery, London, (2021), Back To Back, The Artist Contemporary, London (2021), Frozen Time, Annarumma Gallery, Naples (2021), Always Winter, Brooke Benington Gallery, London (2020) and has participated in the AucArt Lab Residency, London (2019), Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London (2018) as well as being selected for YICCA 2018 Art Prize, Hernandez Art Gallery, Milan (2018).
Natalia's work takes the form of icon paintings. Through these, the artist explores the traces we have been left with from traditions that have prevailed over mainland Europe for centuries and their capacity to continue to exist through time, but also to endure—Old French root, endurer—“to undergo or to suffer”, to carry on despite obstacles or hardship.
Natalia’s work merges the characters from old fables with the constant supply of images we are subjected to daily aiming to blur the boundaries between divine, secular and earth in order to gesture toward other ways of desiring, feeling, or being in the world, attuned to these paradoxes. The pieces are entitled by proverbs or sayings passed down orally, reflecting on a shared approach to life that has been accepted without comment or revision.
Born in Spain, Natalia graduated from Fine Art Painting at City & Guilds of London Art School in 2017. Since then her work has been exhibited in several group exhibitions including Old Friends, New Friends, Collective Ending, London (2021), The Artist Oracle, White Crypt Gallery, London, (2021), Back To Back, The Artist Contemporary, London (2021), Frozen Time, Annarumma Gallery, Naples (2021), Always Winter, Brooke Benington Gallery, London (2020) and has participated in the AucArt Lab Residency, London (2019), Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London (2018) as well as being selected for YICCA 2018 Art Prize, Hernandez Art Gallery, Milan (2018).